Contract

Staring at her signature on the paper, Abigail felt a rush of relief wash over her. The whirlwind pace of events had her feeling like she was in a dream.

A whole year – that's what he had given her, a full year of his life, a year dedicated to a captivating charade simply because he was bored.

Remo Quinn was undoubtedly as twisted as the rumors made him out to be. When she had approached him with the idea of a marriage proposal, she had expected rejection, but his agreement had caught her completely off guard.

Once they had settled on the terms and conditions, he wasted no time and promptly summoned his lawyer to draft a marriage contract and a marriage certificate. The plan was simple: a year of matrimony, after which they'd each go their separate ways. He had even signed a prenup, a gesture to assure her that he wouldn't take anything from her once the arrangement concluded.

Yet, Abigail knew deep down that this was probably a lie – maybe, just maybe, he would claim her heart. Despite her logical reasoning, she couldn't deny the undeniable pull she felt towards her soon-to-be husband.

Taking a shaky breath, she closed her eyes for a moment. With the agreement now in place, she was impatient to return home. A tip from one of her cousins earlier that day had informed her that her uncle had launched a search for her, filling her with apprehension.

The last time she had attempted to escape to see her father, she had been caught right at the entrance, Abby shuddered as memories of the torture she had endured flooded back, a chilling reminder of what she was trying to escape from.

Up to now some scars still remain. Life at the Martinez—her mother's side of the family was hell for Abby after her father got diagnosed with cancer and he had to be hospitalized.

They were all so nice when her father was fit so what had changed?

They had tried everything to crush her spirit to break her but Abby was tougher than she showed. They wanted to make her puppet whom they could control once her father died.

Her father was an only child and sole inheritor of his family business and she was an only child too. After the death of her mother, her father hadn't remarried so her mother's side of the family was all she had left and now look at how they were treating her.

Abby wanted to see her father so bad. The longing was aching, she believed he was the only one who cared for her in this whole world.

She wondered if he would have made her uncle her caretaker if he knew how bad they treated her.

She couldn't believe how well she'd managed to communicate with Remo Quinn,who was seriously intimidating with his striking good looks, icy-brown eyes, and lips that seemed designed for both kisses and deception.

He practically looked like a fallen angel, radiating the kind of dangerously attractive charm that even Lucifer would be envious of. And sure, he had a reputation for being cruel, ruthless and heartless.

Yet, Abby couldn't help but see the potential in matching wits with someone like him – the perfect adversary for the Martinez family.

No doubt about it, he would make for a terrible husband. But as long as Abby didn't delude herself about him, she figured she could handle it.

Since she didn't really care for him, she could easily ignore his misdeeds and brush off affairs.

Her marriage would definitely be different from what she had Izabella has always planned and to think that it wasn't Izabella but her that was getting married to Remo – brought on an unexpected urge to cry.

Will her friend hate her right now? It's been four years since her death. It was okay right?

God she was such an awful person. She hadn't for once stopped to think about how wrong this was. She had been consumed by her own thoughts that she hadn't thought about how wrong it was to get married to her dead best friend's boyfriend.

God what has she done? And to find him even attractive—

Battling back the threat of tears, she swallowed hard against the tightness in her throat. There was no use in letting the tears flow. While this solution wasn't exactly perfect, it was the best she could come up with.

Imagining the anger and frustration her aunts and uncles would feel when they realized she – along with her wealth – was forever out of their reach, Abby felt a bit of her misery lift. It was worth anything to escape the control they'd held over her life. She'd do anything to avoid being forced into marriage with Gorden, who cowardly sought solace in alcohol.

Speaking about her stupid cousin, he had been the one who had made it possible for her to run away.

She had lured him to take her out to a club and had gotten him drunk.

She could still remember their last conversation.

"Mother said you'd be submissive to me when we get married. Can't wait to have a taste of you my sweet cousin."

Abby had shivered as he handed a box to her.

"Here," he mumbled, awkwardly handing it over. "Mother thinks you should wear this from now on. It's a family heirloom. The engagement announcement is next week."